The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA), a not-for-profit organisation that promotes authentication and security holograms worldwide, has appointed Manoj Kochar at India-based Holoflex to its Board.

Mike Messmer of U.S. based hologram producer NovaVision Inc. will continue in his role as chairman.

Process Color’s Rajan Thomas will remain as the IHMA’s Asia regional representative, where he will be joined by new deputy representative Rohit Mistry of Holographic Security Marking Systems.

The EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will be covered by OpSec Security Group’s Paul Dunn and Emma Swain, API Holographics, while Goran Milinovic, from System Intelligence Products, will stay on as the Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union and CIS representative.

In North America, the IHMA will be represented by Diana Newcombe of Pacific Holographics, and in the ASPA region by Umendra Gupta of Holostik.

The moves follow the appointment of Dr Mark Deakes as general secretary, who will spearhead the IHMA’s representation of the world’s leading producers and converters of holograms for security, packaging, graphics and other commercial applications.

In a statement, the IHMA said the new Board will underpin the IHMA’s work to advance the understanding and development of holograms and holographic technology, particularly in the authentication of products and documents, decoration and illustration, displays and display systems, energy and environmental improvements.

Mike Messmer said: “Holograms are now the single most used add-on security feature on banknotes, passports, tax stamps and other products.

“I look forward to working with the new Board, helping the industry secure growth and innovate, as well as enabling all involved in holography to come together as one to meet the various challenges it faces.

“Asia, in particular China, is seeing a significant amount of activity for the hologram industry. Globally, China is still the major source of counterfeit products. We are working with the relevant government agencies in China to help them address the counterfeiting issue.”

Dr Mark Deakes, general secretary of the IHMA added: “We encourage all our members to work towards full ISO14298 compliance, the standard requiring security holograms to be registered. This affects all of the current IHMA members and it is also a point of interest for the Chinese, especially when they export products.”